The thing about books is that I like them. Also: Ice cream.

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Book Review | An African in Greenland by Tete-Michel Kpomassie

I feel pretty confident that anyone who’s capable of experiencing joy would love An African in Greenland by Tete-Michel Kpomassie. As the title implies, it is the story of an African man who travels to Greenland. Until his travels begin, he lives a pretty sheltered life within an African village where the men have numerous wives and everyone wears loin clothes. So you can imagine some of the predicaments the author gets himself into as he spends years working his way from Africa to Greenland.

This is a true fish-out-of-water story and it is great fun and very interesting to follow Mr. Kpomassie around as he discovers many things we all take for granted. He’s such a great sport about everything and is 100% down for any and all adventures that come his way, no matter how scary they are. But, one of the things I adored so much about this book, is that he’s not the only fish-out-of-water. The vast majority of people he comes across in Greenland have never seen a black man. Some children are scared, people ask him rude questions, but everyone welcomes him and he takes it in stride. It was such a strange experience for everyone involved and so lovely to follow them all.

The writing is joyful and fast-paced and gave me exactly the amount of detail I wanted. The middle holds some pictures so readers can check out some of the shacks he was staying in and how strange he looked among all the very short residents of one town he stayed in.

I also learned quite a few things, like if you live in Greenland and some stranger knocks on your door you just open it and invite them to move in.